Top Dog ….
A Scottish deerhound female named Hickory took top honors at the Westminster Dog Show 2011 in the Best in Show category at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night.
America’s Top Dog, a 5-year-old whose full name is GCH (Grand Champion) Foxcliffe Hickory Wind, is the first of her breed to capture the shiny silver bowl and purple-and-gold ribbon in a final competition that featured six other contenders: a Pekingese, Portuguese water dog, Chinese shar-pei, smooth fox terrier, bearded collie and black cocker spaniel.
She was ranked fifth among all American show dogs in the Hound group last year. The rare breed, sometimes mistaken for the Irish wolfhound, was a surprise to many. Vegas odds-makers gave the Scottish deerhound 60-to-1 odds to win.
Hickory will get a steak at famed Sardi’s restaurant and a trip to the top of the Empire State Building on Wednesday. She will be tested over the coming days and then go on a publicity tour before heading back to a farm in Virginia where she will be bred with the hope of producing a litter of puppies later this year.
Her 31-year-old handler is Angela Lloyd, who won in the junior showmanship category in 1998.
More photos and video below:
Photos: Westminster Kennel Club